Earth Sphere Federation Army
|image=New_ESF_Logo.png;2314 A.D.:300 |english=ESF Army |kanji=地球連邦平和維持軍 |romaji=Chikyuurenpou Heiwaijigun |first=2312 |era=Anno Domini |series=Mobile Suit Gundam 00~25~50, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie -A wakening of the Trailblazer- |purpose=Military Organization |independent=No |allies=A-Laws~S2: Pre-Coup |parent=Earth Sphere Federation |enemies=Celestial Being~S2: Pre-Coup, Katharon~S2: Pre-Coup, A-Laws~S2: Post-Coup, ELS~AWoT }}The , abbreviated as the ESF Army, is the newly formed united planetary force of the Earth Sphere Federation created in between season 1 and 2 of Gundam 00 and seen in the latter as a semi-antagonist force behind the Autonomous Peace-Keeping Force, A-Laws. After the new Federation president dismantled the A-Laws, all A-Laws members were integrated into the ESF Army. They played a critical role in the ELS War by joining forces with the paramilitary organization Celestial Being. History Formed in A.D. 2311, the Earth Sphere Federation is created as the successor of the United Nations. Similarly, the ESF Army is the successor of the United Nations Forces and was created in A.D.2312 after an agreement from the then-328 member states of the Federation. The ESF Army was often called the 'Regular Forces' to differentiate themselves from the Autonomous Peace-Keeping Force (A-Laws). Following the Break Pillar Incident, the Regular Forces are merged temporarily with the A-Laws to boost the A-Laws' chances of destroying the paramilitary organization Celestial Being. Following the defeat of the A-Laws and the Innovators, the ESF Army is reformed with the immediate disbandment of the A-Laws branch. Many former A-Laws personnel are also granted amnesty by the new Federation administration and allowed to rejoin the ESF Army. The ESF Army also gained control over the Celestial Being which contained the quantum processing unit Veda. During inspection of the area surrounding the Celestial Being as well as internal inspections, the ESF Army found the remaining units of the Innovators' mass production Mobile Suit GNZ-004 Gaga as well as the wreckage of GNMA-0001V Regnant, an Innovator-designed Mobile Armor. With these units and the Celestial Being in their control, the ESF Army begun to upgrade their military forces. Between A.D. 2312 and A.D. 2314 the new Federation government's pacifism policies had caused much of the Army to be dismantled. However even with such disarmament happening, the ESF Army had still upgraded its forces with newer technology. The Celestial Being, now a major production facility for the ESF Army, was being protected at all times by a fleet of Baikal-class cruisers and was the site of the Federation's research into Innovators. The mothership's Innovades had also been commissioned into the ESF Army sometime between 2312 and 2314. By 2314, the ESF Army had newer MS, like the GNX-803T GN-XIV, alongside newer vessels like the Volga- and Nile-class battleships using technology from the Innovators and Celestial Being. The ESF Army would later deploy all forces at the "Absolute Line of Defense" with the sole goal being to stop the Extraterrestial Living-metal Shape-shifters from getting to Earth and assimilating all of Humanity. The Celestial Being was the headquarters of the ESF Army during the ELS Conflict. Even with the power of their upgraded forces, over 70% of the ESF Army fleet had been destroyed or assimilated by the time the conflict ended. Several years later, the ESF-Army would take part in the war between the Old Human Faction and the Earth Sphere Federation. Equipment Mobile Weapons *AEU-05 AEU Hellion **AEU-05OP AEU Hellion Orbit Package *AEU-09 AEU Enact **AEU-09OP AEU Enact Orbit Package *MSJ-06II-C/B Tieren High Mobility Type B *MSJ-06II-E Tieren Space Type *MSJ-06II-ED Tieren Zhizhu *MSJ-06III-A Tieren All Region Type *VMS-15 Union Realdo **VMS-15OP Union Realdo Orbit Package **MA-115HT Union Realdo Hover Tank *SVMS-01 Union Flag **SVMS-01SG Union Flag Ground Package Shell Type **SVMS-01OP Union Flag Orbit Package *SVMS-01O Over Flag **SVMS-01OA Over Flag Astro Package *GNX-603T GN-X ESF Color *GNX-604T Advanced GN-X **GNX-604T Advanced GN-X Deborah Galiena Custom *GNX-607T GN-XII **GNX-607T/AC GN-XII Sword **GNX-607T/BW GN-XII Cannon *GNX-609T GN-XIII *GNX-612T/AA Superbia GN-X *GNX-704T/FS Ahead Forcing Scout Type *GNX-Y802T Neo-Hed *GNX-803T GN-XIV **GNX-803T GN-XIV (Commander Type) **GNX-805T/CF GN-XIV Core Fighter Loaded Type *GNX-903VW Brave (Commander Test Type) *GNX-903VS Brave (Standard Test Type) *GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza *GNZ-004/BW Gaga Cannon Warships *Celestial Being (mothership) *ESF-SC01 Baikal-class *Nile-class *Volga-class *Artorious *Ural-class Organization The ESF Army is a multi-role organization, for example there existed both separate terrestrial and space forces, however all 'branches' operated under the name "Earth Sphere Federation Army" regardless of whether they were in the terrestrial forces or the space fleet. At the time of its creation, the ESF Army was planned to be the only, unified peacekeeping force for the entire Earth Sphere Federation as they pushed towards creating a single, unified government and world. To this end, the ESF Army operated in all areas and was initially charged with the destruction of anti-Federation elements before this task was passed onto the A-Laws. The ESF Army was headquartered within Union territory where the Chief-of-Staff presumably had his or her office. The Chief-of-Staff was responsible for reporting directly to the Federation President, especially during times of crisis such as the ELS Conflict. During the final battle of said-conflict, the Celestial Being was the headquarters and command center for the ESF Army and were commanded by Brigadier General Kati Mannequin. Tactics The ESF Army prided itself upon monopolising captured GN Technology and being able to create Mobile Suits and later starships using such technology. In A.D. 2312, their mainstay Mobile Weapon was the GNX-609T GN-XIII which had a split production line between the ESF 'Regular Forces' and the A-Laws. During an operation in response to a coup d'ete by various personnel of the Regular Forces, the ESF Army opted to deploy a large-scale attack force to ambush the retreating coup and Katharon forces that were trying to escape during the Break Pillar Incident. The Regular Forces also utilized Guyana-class flight-capable land battleships in their search operations for anti-ESF encampments as well as to fight the Coup forces that had captured the Orbital Elevator. It is very possible that the Federation Army also fielded a fleet of Baikal-class cruisers alongside those operated by the A-Laws. By A.D. 2314, the ESF Army was boosted by the additional of personnel and technologies which had been transferred from the disbanded A-Laws branch to the regular army. By this time, they now had better equipped battleships such as the Volga- and Nile-classes and the current mainstay MS of the Army was now the GNX-803T GN-XIV. Between A.D 2312 and A.D. 2314 however, much of the Army had been dismantled in accordance with the new pacifism policy of the new Federation administration, although this did not stop the ESF Army from protecting the Earth Sphere during the ELS Conflict. The ESF Army deployed True Innovator Descartes Shaman as bait in an interception mission at Mars. The mission ended with the total destruction of the ESF fleet and the loss of Shaman and his prototype Mobile Armor, the GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza. As a last resort, the ESF Army created the "Absolute Line of Defense" near the L2 region with the Celestial Being acting as the forward command center and deployed nearly every last vessel, Mobile Weapon and weapon the ESF Army had. During this last defensive battle of the conflict, even with their numerous upgraded units, the Federation Army would suffer vast casualties, over 70% of the deployed fleet, in a valiant fight against the aliens. Technological Development The ESF Army monopolised the captured GN Tau Particle technology and further developed the GNX-Series of Mobile Suits. This research and development would later result in the producing their own GN DriveTs and as a result, GN Particle-utilizing Mobile Armor and starships like the Baikal-class cruiser, though older vessels were still in use. When the ESF Army was first created their mainstay Mobile Suit was the GNX-609T GN-XIII, which they shared production with the A-Laws. The GN-XIII was developed from the infamous GNX-603T GN-X and the less known GNX-607T GN-XII. The GN-X line would then be continued by the Innovator-enhanced GNX-612T/AA Superbia GN-X which saw limited production. The Superbia GN-X was based upon the concept design of the GN-XIV that was currently being developed by the ESF Army. Whilst the Superbia GN-X is listed as a Federation forces machine, it was in fact only piloted by A-Laws personnel as the Regular Forces had already been merged with the A-Laws by the time of its development and deployment. Similarly the Federation forces also fielded the GNX-704T/FS Ahead Forcing Scout Type, which was an A-Laws machine as well. Whilst still under the A-Laws, the Federation planned on developing a new production model of the GNX-704T Ahead. This planned unit was the GNX-Y802T Neo-Hed, a next-generation machine developed using combat data gathered from testbed machines such as the GNX-704T/AC Sakigake and GNX-704T/SP Smultron. The developer's plan was to divide the Federation's mass production machines into two series: a new model GN-X as a lightweight Mobile Suit and the Neo-Hed as a heavy Mobile Suit. However this plan fell through when the scandalous actions of the A-Laws were revealed to the world and the Federation was forced to cancel development of the Neo-Hed. The Ahead was probably mothballed following the revelation, as being exclusively an A-Laws machine would make it hard to field without some sort of public backlash, which the new government was keen to keep away from. Subsequently the new administration, coming in on the aftermath of the revelation of the true extent of A-Laws' operations, choose to follow policies that promoted peace and unification. Part of the new government's pacifist policies was partial or full disarmament of the ESF Army although they may have been lax as the ESF Army continued upgrading their forces with new technologies found aboard the captured-''Celestial Being'' mothership formerly controlled by the Innovators. However the pacifist policies did keep the development of the next-generation GNX-803T GN-XIV, whose testing was kept strictly to space and lunar sites, from the public domain at least until they began rolling out. By A.D. 2314 the ESF Army had begun deploying the GN-XIV largely in space and it is currently unknown if the GN-XIV was also deployed on Earth. Also as the Federation became aware of True Innovators, the ESF Army personnel aboard the Celestial Being developed the Innovator-Use Mobile Armor GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza with help from Veda and the Innovades. Designed according to a "one man army" ideology, Gadelaza was selected as a potential replacement for the GN-X series but had to compete against the GNX-Y903V Brave-Series, developed from transformable MS such as the Flag and Enact, to become the next-generation mainstay design of the ESF Army. The Gadelaza would eventually be mass-produced years after the ELS Conflict, during the Innovator War, but is unknown if it was the next mainstay Mobile Weapon of the Federation Army. After the ELS Conflict, the GN-XIV underwent a slight upgrade into the GN-XIV Core Fighter Loaded Type which was deployed by both factions during the Innovator War. It is make quite apparent that the ESF Army has never fully had time to operate a full army composed of GN Particle-utilizing units during A.D. 2312-2314. In A.D. 2312, most of the Federation Army's terrestrial MS forces were being made up by older generation MS such as Enacts, Flags and Tieren High Mobility Type Bs. The latter notable was used to protect Federation detention centers for suspected anti-Federation rebels whilst the former two made up the backbone of the Regular Forces' aerial forces on Earth. During A.D. 2312, it is possible that GN DriveT-equipped machines were prioritized for the A-Laws as opposed to the Regular Forces thus explaining why the Regular Forces continued to field older MS, even against Celestial Being's Gundams. Two years later when the ELS threaten the Earth, older generation MS, such as the Over Flag Astro Package and Tieren Space Type, were deployed alongside GN Mobile Suits to combat the ELS menace. Older vessels such as the Virgina- and Laohu-class vessels were also deployed and it is possible that these older ships were modernized with GN weaponry and technology, as well as new facilities to better accommodate GN Mobile Suits. By A.D. 2364, the Earth Sphere Federation appears to have not only have gained information to create but also mastered the process of producing True GN Drives. It is not specified whether this development is due to Celestial Being releasing the information or if the Federation just closed the technological gap, which was possible due to their larger extent of resources. There does exist circumstantial evidence that CB and the Earth Sphere Federation could have reconciled and shared information due to the fact that there exists an ESF vessel named the Sumeragi after CB's tactical forecaster, Sumeragi Lee Noriega. The state of the ESF Army at this time is unknown nor is it known whether the organization even exists to this time period. ESF Army Personnels *Vice Admiral Kim - KIA in ELS War (Assimilated) *Brigadier General Kati Mannequin - Previously a member of the A-Laws. Defected to and led ESF Coup d'état Faction in A.D. 2312. Returned to ESF Army and eventually promoted (previously Colonel) *Colonel Pang Hercules- Defected and led the ESF Coup d'état Faction. Killed by an A-Laws Officer Andrei Smirnov during the Break Pillar Incident *Billy Katagiri - Previously a member of A-Laws. Later ESF Chief Mobile Suit Designer *Colonel Sergei Smirnov- Killed by an A-Laws Officer Andrei Smirnov during the Break Pillar Incident *First Lieutenant Andrei Smirnov - Previously a member of the A-Laws. KIA in ELS War *Commander Patrick Colasour - Previously a member of the A-Laws. Defected to ESF Coup d'état Faction in A.D. 2312 *Major Graham Aker - Commander of the Solbraves Squadron. *Viktor Leonov - A member of the Solbraves Squadron *Rudolf Schreiber - A member of the Solbraves Squadron *Akira Takei - A member of the Solbraves Squadron *Yagan Crow - A member of the Solbraves Squadron. KIA during ELS War *Naguib Neferu - A member of the Solbraves Squadron *Amy Zimbalist - MS Pilot *Deborah Galiena - MS Pilot *Flinch - An Innovade MS pilot from Gundam 00I. Killed by Lars Grise *Captain Descartes Shaman - KIA during ELS War *Brigadier General Arthur Goodman - Transferred to the A-Laws. Was charged with anti-Kataron operations (Deceased) *Captain Barack Zinin - Transfer to the A-Laws (Deceased) *Major Arba Lindt - Transferred to the A-Laws (Deceased) *Lieutenant Colonel Lee Zhejiang - Transferred to the A-Laws (Deceased) Gallery President of ESF.jpg|President of the ESF ESF Army.jpg|Various characters in the ESF Army ESF Pilot (SRW V).png|Generic ESF pilot from Super Robot Wars V. External links